Despite not being able to watch or monitor the race live, I was not surprised by how the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend for this year unfolded. Red Bull lead driver and defending World Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen put in a superlative performance to take pole position and victory in both the short-form sprint race and the full race over the past two days. It seems that the Red Bull team has managed to come good with late-season developments on its car, and that it has weathered any turmoil that Christian Horner’s firing may have caused. Red Bull’s second driver, Yuki Tsunoda, whom I understand is a competent racing driver, has even been able to get better performances out of the car, gaining points where previously there would have been none for the second car.
The McLaren-Mercedes team fell afoul of a racing incident on the first lap of the sprint race, with both cars colliding and being taken out of contention. After that, Lando Norris put in a good performance to qualify second behind Mr. Verstappen, and then to convert that to a second place finish in the race, despite the heroic defensive efforts of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. While Mr. Leclerc is a top driver and well established at the Italian team, new-to-Ferrari driver Sir Lewis Hamilton has been struggling but (in my view) seems to be starting to come to grips with the car and the team.
In contrast to Mr. Norris, McLaren’s newer driver and current World Drivers’ Championship leader, Oscar Piastri, seems to have suffered a loss in form since the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix some weeks ago. Earlier in the season, Mr. Piastri seemed a confident choice to be this year’s champion driver, but Mr. Verstappen has been making the most out of a resurgent Red Bull car. McLaren has not been able to retain the dominance in its car that it had earlier in the season, and frankly, Mr. Verstappen is currently the most likely driver to win this year’s Drivers’ Championship at this rate. (If he does win, it would be his fifth consecutive title, previously achieved only by Michael Schumacher from 2000–2004 with Ferrari.)
If Mr. Piastri wins the Drivers’ Championship this year, it will be an exceptional performance; it is just his third year in Formula 1, after all, and he is up against Mr. Verstappen and Sir Lewis, amongst others. Speaking of competition, due credit must go to Fernando Alonso Diaz, currently the oldest driver racing in Formula 1, for continuing to give the performances he does despite being in a midfield car (Aston Martin). Commonly referred to as just ‘Fernando Alonso’ despite Spanish naming conventions, we must remember that he was the man who took on the Schumacher-Ferrari juggernaut of the 2000s and won the World Drivers’ Championship in 2005 and 2006 with the Renault team. He has also come second three times (2010, 2012, and 2013 with Ferrari) and third once (2007 with McLaren, in that infamous season alongside the rookie Sir Lewis, where both McLaren drivers were just pipped to the post by Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari).
Overall, no surprises: Mr. Verstappen continues to show why, car capability aside, he is still the best driver in the field; Mr. Norris put in a steady performance; and Mr. Piastri continued with an apparent late-season slump. I have no doubt that Mr. Piastri’s manager Mark Webber will be able to help guide his charge to regain his superb earlier performance, but the young Australian will be going up against the two aforementioned talented gentlemen.